Reykjavík Grapevine - Jan 2019, Qupperneq 21

21 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01— 2019
BEST ALBUM:
GDRN - ‘Hvað ef’

Arriving with some media fanfare right in the
middle of 2018, ‘Hvað ef’ is the debut album of
musician, vocalist and rising pop star Guðrún
Ýr—better known as GDRN. The record was a
long time in the making, coming together
over a period of two years. And yet, Guðrún
didn’t dare imagine the amount of positive
attention the album would receive. “This is
the first music I’ve released,” she says, “so
I was a bit surprised when I got this award,
to be honest. I didn’t set out to get this into
music-making this full on. It’s been a very
special year.”
BROAD SOUND
‘Hvað ef’ is a collection of beautifully
emotional songs with lyrics that are at once
introspective, luscious, subdued and optimis-
tic. “The songs are diverse, but a certain unity
can be found between them,” says Guðrún. “I
simply wanted to work on a project with my
friends and beat-makers Bjarki and Teitur—
a.k.a. Ra:tio—who produced a large part of
the album with me.”
GDRN’s work with Ra:tio was highly experi-
mental and evolved from being a straightfor-
ward mix of beats and vocals to an extensive
collaboration. “It was their first endeavour
in music production and the first time I’d
layered my vocals on top of someone else’s
beats,” she says. “I brought in my ideas and
we worked on them together.”
BROTHER BELLS
‘Hvað ef’ includes a number of collaborators,
including Auður, with whom Guðrún worked
on the title track and ‘Án mín.’ “We gradually
built the two songs up from segments we
made from scratch during a number of jam
sessions,” she says.
On ‘Þarf þig’ she utilised a beat made by her
younger brother, compiled from bell sounds
on his computer. “I thought it fit the overall
sound of the album and was able to give him
a well-deserved ego-boost at the same time.”
‘Lætur mig’—featuring rapper Flóni— has
over half a million plays on Spotify at the time
of publication.
Guðrún’s classical and jazz music studies
aided in setting the album’s unique tone.
However, defining it is hard for Guðrún. “Ra:tio
are big hip hop fans, while my musical back-
ground is more conventional, so we managed
to mix together various types of music,” she
explains. “I’ve played concerts where both
young kids and their parents seem familiar
with my music. I enjoy seeing my music bridge
a gap in this way.”
GDRN’s slow-paced pop experiment turned
out to be more than she imagined, reaching
a large, diverse and ever growing audience.
Her debut album is a landmark in her creative
life, but it’s also just the beginning—and it’s
a testament to what can happen when an
emerging artist dares to ask “what if?” AJF
SHOUT OUT:
R6013

Ægir Sindri Bjarnason set up the low-fi concert/
gathering venue R6013 in his family’s basement
on Ingolfsstræti in May 2017, and has held over 60
concerts since then. When there’s a line-up sign
leaning on the fence outside, everyone is welcome
to join for experimental performances, vegan food
and fun.
A musician himself—some say the best drum-
mer in Reykjavík—Ægir grew up playing in all sorts
of bands, from garage practice session to live
concerts. “R6013 is a very intimate concert expe-
rience compared to most other places, because it’s
so small,” he explains, smiling kindly.
The venue is one open room and it’s usually
packed. “I decided to switch around the usual setup
and raise a stage for the audience at the back,
rather than raising up the performers,” he says.
“The audience and performers still share the same
space. It really does it for me to skip that division.”
There’s always a pot of vegan food to share, which
Ægir says is very important for the gatherings. “A
connection is created in a space where people eat
together,” he says. “Even if you come along and you
don’t know anyone, you can have a soup and sit in
the corner and listen to others chatting. Just by
being there and eating together, you’re a part of
what’s happening, even if you’re not talking with
anyone.”
With Reykjavík losing several important music
hubs in recent years, R6013 feels more necessary
now than ever as a home for young musicians and
the experimental scene. Follow R6013 on Facebook
to keep up with the schedule and consider making
a cash donation when you visit so Ægir can open
his doors more often for his special events. TNI
HÁSKAR

HÁSKAR was a one-day alternative music, culture
and arts festival—with high production values,
and a dark edge in the curation—that took place
at IÐNÓ during easter 2018. The festival’s organisers
declined to be interviewed about their Shout Out
award, and instead offered the following statement
from SVIKAMYLLA EHF.
To whom it may concern,
While accepting the Reykjavik Grapevine’s award
with moderate gratitude, our board of directors
wishes to remain anonymous at this time, due to
both legal reasons and recent managerial decisions
passed at the board’s latest biweekly meeting here
in Reykjavik, Iceland. It it is the sincere hope of our
chairman that no offence is taken as we decline the
Reykjavik Grapevine’s offer for an interview.
To the readers of the Reykjavik Grapevine, we
would instead choose to reiterate our message as
stated in a previous interview about our dooms-
day celebration. Háskar was held to recognise
and celebrate the onset of doomsday. Doomsday
occurred during Háskar, after Háskar and until the
last member of the species posts the last photo on
the last of the social media before drawing its last
breath. Our days are numbered. Whether or not a
second doomsday celebration will take place this
year will soon be announced by prestigious Icelan-
dic media company Iceland Music News on their
website, icelandmusicnews.com.
In light of this, we would like to thank the artists
who appeared at Háskar and made the celebration
possible. We would especially like to congratulate
members of anti-capitalist award winning Icelandic
bondage art group HATARI for their ceaseless, but
ultimately pointless, work to unveil the scam that
is everyday life. May their short careers be remem-
bered until the end, which is nigh.
Sincere regards,
SVIKAMYLLA EHF.
“I’ve played concerts
where both young kids
and their parents
seem familiar
with my music.
I enjoy seeing
my music
bridge a gap
in this way.”